hm. short and specific answer is that i wish i hadn't deleted the previous chapter's maps when setting up the new chapter's project files, because it meant for the combined version i had to reconnect every door/map transition because they were numbered incorrectly in the code.
longer, more general answer:
treat started as a game made for a 2 week jam (i didn't finish in time so i didn't submit) as an excuse to learn rpgmaker. it was the type of story i wanted to add to and make more of, but i didn't have a plan for how big it would be. from the start, i set up the project files so that i'd be able to combine all the games later on (which went smoothly aside from the aforementioned door issue).
i released the first few treat games pretty quickly, but after that it got harder and harder to finish them, because 1) i was doing other things, 2) my standard of quality raised as my skills/experience increased, and 3) there was a lot more to consider when writing everything.
the other thing i didn't expect was that so many people would get deeply invested in the series and ask for the next chapter all the time. i've felt a lot of guilt about not being able to buckle down and churn out the rest, although most fans have been extremely patient with me--it's just my internal struggle, wanting to not disappoint everyone's expectations and feeling like i'm constantly letting people down when i'm not making progress. i've always been weak to that kind of anxiety, although i've gotten better at coping with it over the years.
so um, i would definitely not randomly start an episodic project nowadays without considering the toll it would take on my mental health. but i do still enjoy writing stories that are connected to each other (obviously)... SAS is planned to have more chapters, but the stories are unrelated to each other and all i need to draw for them is 1 background and 1 set of character busts. very doable, very low pressure. that's more my ideal, rather than something like treat which has been pretty stressful (but also rewarding!)
anyway sorry if this was kind of a downer answer, i didn't mean for it to be! i don't regret making treat at all, i'm still excited to finish part 8, and i'm going to be very proud of myself once i reach the end of development on this thing. i'm terrified of what will happen if the game gets too much attention, but i know that it's a story that's meaningful to a ton of people too, so it'll surely be worth it... i'll weather the storm.... hopefully there is no storm tho..... hopefully it's just my anxiety............. wahh!!!!!

